LAPD Investigates Scuffles with Cyclist

The internal affairs unit launched a use-of-force investigation after video of the incident was posted online and a complaint was filed by cyclists, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement Saturday.

“In response to what we learned, we immediately launched a full-scale investigation to determine the facts surrounding the events,” LAPD Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger said. “The Department’s Professional Standards Bureau has taken the lead in the inquiry and the Police Commission’s Inspector General has also been made fully aware of the matter.”

About 400 people were riding on Hollywood Boulevard Friday, and bike officers were watching for traffic violations and writing citations, police said.

A 91-second video posted on YouTube shows an officer appear to kick at a passing bicyclist. The man holding the camera shouts and curses at the officers, and at least two of them converge on him, but the video goes mostly black and it is difficult to determine what happened afterward.

The officers union asked that the public refrain from rushing to judgment.

“It is always important to remember that home video, shot from a distance, from one angle and in the dark, and not at the beginning of the incident seldom tells the whole story,” Los Angeles Police Protective League President Paul M. Weber said in a statement Sunday.